Le Tissier drops Man City title verdict after Arsenal climb six points clear
Man City cannot be written off in the race for the Premier League title yet due to Erling Haaland’s outstanding early season form.
That is according to Premier League legend Matt Le Tissier, who has exclusively told Football Insider that Pep Guardiola will be relaxed about his side’s chances of winning the league again due to their history of picking up form at the right time.
Man City failed to win the title for the first time since 2020 last season as they suffered a drastic drop-off in form over an extended period for the first time ever under Guardiola.
They have been inconsistent once again at the start of this term after clinching third place last season, with 16 points from their first nine games to currently sit fifth in the Premier League.
Arsenal have set the pace at the summit of the table in the early stages of this campaign, and they extended their lead on the Citizens to six points over the weekend with a win against Crystal Palace as Guardiola’s side lost at Villa Park.
Erling Haaland has been a standout despite Man City’s inconsistencies
Aston Villa beat Man City 1-0 on Sunday (26 October) through a Matty Cash winner, but Erling Haaland thought he had notched a late equaliser before Omar Marmoush was ruled to be offside in the build-up.
The burly Norwegian has already scored 15 goals in 12 appearances in all competitions so far in 2025-26, and that outing in the Second City was the first time he hadn’t scored for club and country since 23 August.
Guardiola’s side have been more reliant than ever on his insane goal record this season, with no other player in the squad scoring more than once in the league as yet.
Jamie Carragher recently insisted that Haaland will be Arsenal’s biggest concern right now as aims to fire City to another title win, and that sentiment has been echoed by Le Tissier.
Le Tissier says Man City still in the title race due to Haaland’s form
Le Tissier told Football Insider last week that he feels Man City are still the favourites to win the Premier League title despite Arsenal’s great start.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former England and Southampton striker has now insisted that, even though they are six points behind top spot, the Citizens are still well in the race mainly due to Haaland’s quality in front of goal.
He said: “I think it’s very difficult to write them off at this stage of the season. I think when you’ve got a striker that’s scoring the amount of goals that Haaland does, when you’ve got the quality players around him, you know, six points isn’t a huge amount at this stage of the season for a team of that quality.
“They are capable. We’ve seen in the past, Guardiola’s teams going on a run of, you know, 10, 11, 12 wins in a row. They just become relentless once they get into that rhythm, so they still have the potential to do that.”
Le Tissier also insisted that the City boss will be remaining calm despite the current state of affairs, saying: “I don’t think Pep will be panicking just yet at this stage of the season.”